Felix Atagong's Unfinished Projec

The Sandbox Of God 1.52 – Year 2010

20100108

The Sandbox Of God 1.52 – Year 2010

It was already announced a couple of times before, but finally here it
is: Sandbox Of God version one point five two. There is some good and
some bad news.

People who were slightly aware of Mark
Overmars’s Game
Maker utility a couple of years ago obviously know Sandbox of God as
it was, together with Seiklus,
one of the top games created with this software. Sandbox is one those
games proving that you don’t need ultra-realism and ten-minutes
introduction movies to have decent entertainment.

Here is what I wrote about it in 2006
(the game was by then, already two years old, and still mega-popular):

The story itself is monotonous, the graphics are tacky, but in a strange
way the game is very addictive. Before you know it hours have gone by
because you still have not managed to create Volcano city or instigate
world peace between rabbits and men.

Mr. Chubigans went on, creating Vertigo
Gaming, now selling various (self-devised and highly original) indie
games, but the legacy of SoG was one that couldn’t be easily forgotten
and for the last lustrum fans have been asking for a follow up.

There have always been talks about a sequel and in 2008 SoG: Ancient
Warfare was announced and then, a month later, put in the fridge again.
The FAQ at Vertigo put it this way (for 2010 the text has changed):

Q: Sandbox of God 2?A: I'm not prepared to say anything about that
right now, and whether it's still going / cancelled.

Finally, last year, a Sandbox of God remake was announced for real. Mr.
Chubigans hastily explained that this was NOT, I repeat NOT, Sandbox of
God Part 2, the sequel, the next generation, or whatever… but merely an
update to make the game running smoothly under Windows Vista and Seven.

Sandbox of God now comes in two flavours: the freeware
edition (1.52) and the Remastered
(and slightly commercial) edition.

The freeware edition has got the following changes:

Updated engineGame Maker 8 instead of 5, making it faster and
slightly more reliable.

Updated music and soundsThe original version contained some
copyrighted music and sounds and these have been replaced.

Updating and news screenBasically this is a build-in internet page
showing you the latest news and updates from Vertigo with a possibility
to download the most recent version (if any) .

Updated save systemMaking saved games more reliable compared to the
quirky 2004 version.

Updated play speedsYou can now play the game in three different
speeds.

That the game is an upgrade and hasn’t got any new situations (quite the
contrary as the original easter eggs seem to have disappeared) can be
proved by the fact that my walkthroughs from 2006 are still valid (I
have updated them a bit). I’ll put the links of these five walkthroughs,
that is all it takes to complete the game and end with a 100% score, at
the bottom of this post.

Sandbox of God Remastered is an expanded version of SoG 1.52 and
is not freeware, but, until April of this year, given away for free to
existing customers of Vertigo Gaming. In other words, you get the game
for free if you buy (or have already bought) another one.

SoG:R includes all changes from version 1.52 but has two new features:

The Sandbox of God board game. You can still play SoG in it’s classic
style or switch to a brand new style called Simulated board game. In
this new style, SOG:R simulates how one might play a board game version
of the Sandbox of God in their basement using light gels, clay figures,
blocks and cards, and Christmas lights. Switching between the classic
style and the board game style can be done between rounds.

The Sandbox of God Warfare. This is a brand new game and we’ll
switch over to Mr. Chubigans’s description:

As man sits atop the world, enjoying the fruits of his labour, evil
rabbits plot revenge. Defend man’s civilization as you purchase new
defences and upgrades, and prepare to do battle with the
ever-multiplying civilization of rabbits. Use your godly powers of
lighting and destruction to destroy rabbit armies and huts…provided that
you have enough cash, of course. Unlock new cards by beating Sandbox
mode and see how far into the future you can survive!